Behind the business

Copywriter and author, Marilyn Messik was a regular contributor to national magazines when her children were small and, not being one to sit on her thumbs, she also set up a children’s party business, working from home before opening first one shop and then another. After several years, she then (low boredom threshold!) completely changed direction and moved into the travel market, initially focusing on New England in the U.S.A.

Her advisory, planning and booking service flourished and she concurrently set up a publishing company to make information more widely available. The U.S.Welcome Selected Hotels & Inns annual publication was a lush, full colour guide to independent hotels, country inns and B&Bs which eventually grew to take in accommodation all over America.

The growth of the directory led to invitations to speak at industry conferences and Marilyn became a board member of the Professional Association of Innkeepers and was made an honorary member of the New England Innkeepers Association for her work in promoting that area. As a niche company, the U.S. Welcome promotional budgets were limited but strategic alliances with organisations such as North West Airlines, Johansens and the Debenhams Group, offered opportunity to reach optimum numbers of targeted consumers and the publication was finally bought out by Thomas Cook Publishing.

Subsequently, Marilyn set up Create Communication to work with businesses, helping them shape their messages to optimum effect. Her clients now range from start-ups and SMEs to corporates; in fields such as legal, financial, medical, publishing, the arts and commerce.

She’s a serial networker on the business-women’s circuit, holds successful writing workshops and has written the Little Black Business Book series of e-books. She published her first paranormal suspense novel in 2013, has produced another two since then and threatens that there are more in the pipeline!